


we’ve drunk a couple bottles bare

by jonsrightrib (sotakeabitofcalpol)



Category: The Mechanisms (Band)
Genre: Alcohol, Apocalypse, Gen, I mean the major character death is therefore fairly self explanatory, dttm spoilers, i guess I mean it’s mostly the end of time, oh boy I don’t even know what I just wrote
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-15
Updated: 2020-07-15
Packaged: 2021-03-04 22:27:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,028
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25263838
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sotakeabitofcalpol/pseuds/jonsrightrib
Summary: the story closes, but to be honest, Ashes isn’t too hung up about it. everything endsit would be nice to have died somewhere where they weren’t just a stranger bearing news of the end of time
Comments: 7
Kudos: 31





	we’ve drunk a couple bottles bare

**Author's Note:**

> This is a mess ok but I wanted to write Ashes and it’s very early in the morning and I don’t even know at this point ok some of this is from a random stranger’s perspective whoops here we go

Ashes O'Reilly wakes up with the world's worst headache in a field on a planet they're pretty sure isn't the one they were on a few minutes ago. Raph has clearly fucked up badly this time.

They stand, and wander into the nearest city, looking for a shop they can steal whiskey and a paper from, mostly because their sixth sense for stories is not boding well as an instinct for where they've ended up. They shoot the shopkeeper as he asks for money, and head back onto the street. The stolen newspaper and weight of the story are in agreement; they've landed at the end of time. Double fuck.

* * *

It's the end of the world now. End of everything, really, this world and the next and time itself, so the stranger said. Everyone listened to them, as you tend to when the king's guard shoots someone spouting prophesies of the end times, and they stand up a minute after being pumped full of lead on live television. The streets are filled with looters and killers and people trying to escape something you can't outrun, but you follow the stranger to the shittiest bar in the city. They walk up to the counter, and take about five bottles. Nobody tries to stop them, but they glance over at you, and pass you another bottle. You watch as they drain the first two bottles with worrying speed.

"I heard your speech. You got a name?"

They shrug.

"Haven't you got a family to die with?"

"I'm fine here, thanks."

"Nobody you know at all?"

"Haven't you?"

The stranger laughs a little, bitter and too old for their body.

"Not here, no. They're probably all dead by now, in a linear sense. Only a few of them left on ship when I ended up here."

" 's that why you knew the world was ending? You a time traveller?"

"Not willingly. It was a freak accident, happens when you fuck around and find out for a few millennia; eventually you find your way to a good-ol' death sentence."

The city is on fire, but it won't be for much longer. The last of the heat in the universe is dying. The stranger looks wistfully out the window, finishing the third bottle and opening the fourth.

"I died the first time in a fire. Then I burned my planet down. It's a shame this fire won't last long enough."

"So you're an immortal and a time traveller?"

"Yeah. I used to be part of a crew, the Mechanisms. We said we were immortal, but nothing lasts forever. We used to sing the stories we...we were a band."

"Seriously?"

"I was the bassist, and I sang sometimes. Haven't in a while."

"Come on them, sing us a song, or...tell a story. You must have one you've never told before."

"You want the stories we never told?"

"The whole universe is dying, you seem like you have some nice stories about your crew. It isn't gonna hurt anyone to tell me."

They mull it over for a second.

"We...the crew, we were pretty much a fucked up family. The doc took our corpses, replaced the broken bits and made us all immortal. I died in a warehouse fire, woke up with a rat bastard of a kid stood over me. Jonny, his name was. Then this other kid shot him; Nastya, she was called, dethroned princess. Took a bit to realise that he couldn't die like that. They asked how I wanted to get my revenge. I told them I wanted to burn my planet down, and he looked like he'd been slapped round the face. She started laughing, cause I'd outdone him. He only burnt down a casino in his hometown."

They swig at the bottle.

"Jonny was a bastard, but he genuinely cared. Him and Nastya were close as twins, but they let me in as another sibling. She was fucking the ship, and me and Jonny would spend a stupid amount of time trying to avoid her weird sex shit. The doc collected people. I don't know long she had the Toy Soldier, but we had Ivy after me, smartest person I ever met, then Brian, who was ok half the time and a fucking riot the rest of it. Then Jonny made a friend, and he died, so this British wanker called Tim showed up. Then we got Marius and Raph. Raph was ruthless, scientific but she'd lend you anything to kill someone with as long as she could take notes. Marius was a liar, but he was pretty fun."

They smile a little, and reach for another bottle. Even if they’re immortal, it is a little disconcerting.

"You're gonna be dead before this even ends, at this rate."

"If I go out, I'm going out drunk, with a middle finger up and something burning at my feet."

"Sounds like you've been planning this a while."

"Too long to count. Are you sure you don't have any plans?"

"Get somewhere high and watch?"

"End's coming fast now, so you might want to get going. Now, I'm gonna stop talking and start drinking faster."

You watch them a while more, but they're done talking to you. You grab your coat, and start walking.

"You asked earlier. My name's Ashes. Ashes O'Reilly."

You nod, and keep walking. You don't know the name, but it feels like you should. You keep walking until you find a tall building with a fire escape, and you climb to the top with your bottle. You won't be there to see them end, but you at least get to watch as the horizon turns into a void, coming ever closer until it claims you, and your last moments are filled with curiosity as to how an immortal can die.

* * *

Ashes O'Reilly sits at the bar until they can feel the end start to reach them. A million memories and stories pass through their head as they soak the floor in gasoline, and as the darkness comes to bring them to their final resting place, they strike a match, and drop it at their feet.

**Author's Note:**

> umm whoops I’m tired anyway how’s it going y’all I’m very bi and tired and sometimes I write stream of conciouness and just post it so here we are hope y’all enjoyed I guess
> 
> Title from ‘As The World Caves In’ by Matt Maltese
> 
> EDIT: I have no recollection of writing or posting this what the fuck


End file.
